Soccer tournament boosts southern town’s economy

KEETMANSHOOP business owners say the town enjoyed a massive economic boost after hosting The Namibian Newspaper Cup during the Easter weekend.

The owner of Central Lodge, George Roux, who is also shareholder of Schuetzenhaus Guesthouse, said the sport event poured thousands of dollars into the town’s businesses. According to Roux, the lodge’s occupation figures were 58 per cent higher than last year, while the guesthouse did even better.”If business goes on like this, we can expect rain,” he joked.Roux expressed gratitude towards The Namibian for choosing Keetmanshoop as the venue of the annual soccer tournament.”The hosting of the soccer cup was huge for our economy, since we mostly rely on tourists passing through the town,” Roux said.The owner of the OK supermarket, Roy Oosthuizen, agreed that the tournament was a shot in the arm for business at the town.”Most of the people who were running stalls at the soccer stadium purchased groceries on a huge scale and I believe the sales during the Easter weekend were higher than last year,” he said.A supervisor at JJ Supermarket said workers were kept on their toes around the clock because of the influx of people to the town during the Easter weekend.According to the manager of Trentyre Caltex, the filling station’s fuel tanks ran dry on Monday morning because of the influx of people from all the regions.”The newspaper cup contributed to higher sales of petrol in comparison to last year,” he said.”In the past we usually relied on tourists, but this time around it was not the case,” he added.A local resident, Mamsie Mack, who grabbed the opportunity to sell meat at the stadium from a market stall she leased for N$50 a day, said she managed to reach her sales target of N$5 000 on the third day of the four-day tournament.”I was so excited with the profit gained on the third day that I decided not to sell on the last day of the soccer tournament and instead spent time at the stadium to watch the final,” Mack said.About 325 soccer players from all 13 regions gathered at the town for the annual tournament organised and sponsored by The Namibian to the tune of N$660 000.According to Roux, the lodge’s occupation figures were 58 per cent higher than last year, while the guesthouse did even better.”If business goes on like this, we can expect rain,” he joked.Roux expressed gratitude towards The Namibian for choosing Keetmanshoop as the venue of the annual soccer tournament.”The hosting of the soccer cup was huge for our economy, since we mostly rely on tourists passing through the town,” Roux said.The owner of the OK supermarket, Roy Oosthuizen, agreed that the tournament was a shot in the arm for business at the town.”Most of the people who were running stalls at the soccer stadium purchased groceries on a huge scale and I believe the sales during the Easter weekend were higher than last year,” he said.A supervisor at JJ Supermarket said workers were kept on their toes around the clock because of the influx of people to the town during the Easter weekend.According to the manager of Trentyre Caltex, the filling station’s fuel tanks ran dry on Monday morning because of the influx of people from all the regions.”The newspaper cup contributed to higher sales of petrol in comparison to last year,” he said.”In the past we usually relied on tourists, but this time around it was not the case,” he added.A local resident, Mamsie Mack, who grabbed the opportunity to sell meat at the stadium from a market stall she leased for N$50 a day, said she managed to reach her sales target of N$5 000 on the third day of the four-day tournament.”I was so excited with the profit gained on the third day that I decided not to sell on the last day of the soccer tournament and instead spent time at the stadium to watch the final,” Mack said.About 325 soccer players from all 13 regions gathered at the town for the annual tournament organised and sponsored by The Namibian to the tune of N$660 000.